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Check out this new image of the George MichaelListen Without Prejudice reissue which is due in March.
This is a picture of the four-disc super deluxe edition which comprises the original album remastered, the MTV Unplugged on CD 2, a third disc of remixes, promo edits and extra tracks and a DVD with UK TV’s South Bank Show documentary (broadcast in 1990) and a few promos.

This release obviously takes on a new poignancy now that George is no longer with us, and there is a chance that recent events could delay the already-delayed reissue, but as things stand Listen Without Prejudice is expected to be released on 3 March 2017.

It wasn’t that different to the finish track listing… a few things got dropped/replaced. Since Sony asked me to do some work on this yet-to-be-released set and I’d love to influence future projects, I don’t really want to start undermining what I think is a pretty solid offering. We all know that George was very, very controlling about what he allowed on his reissues so whatever grumbles there might be are almost certainly down to decisions GM and his management made, rather than Sony.

I have to say I’m very disappointed in this release. Disc 2 should have undoubtedly been called ‘LWPV2 – the lost album’. If he now thought it not worthy the moniker, then call it ‘Extended Play Thing – the lost dance album’. All it would have taken is another couple of dance tracks recorded at the time (‘Disco’ and ‘Pieces’ – even in its instrumental form), as well as ‘Killer/Papa’ to complete the abandoned album. Add on all the remixes at the end, and you’ve got a decent coherent album.

Not sure why ‘Killer/Papa’ was omitted – it was used to promote the anniversary on the official site, so go figure! As it stands, disc 2 feels like sweeping up as much as we can, with an incoherent mix of dance, edits, live and Freedom 98?

Off course a decent selection of the ‘cover to cover’ tracks should have been represented [or even a whole concert/DVD – Rock in Rio?], as it was the accompanying tour. Was there any consideration here Paul?

Unplugged naturally belongs with the ‘Older’ deluxe release. There were enough b-sides/remixes for a decent 2 disc (even more), and I assume (or hope) well be getting the Unplugged visual on this future release.

Obviously loads of stuff would have been/was suggested but I’m sure were rejected by George and his team. Don’t agree with disc 3 (not disc 2) being ‘incoherent’ – it mops up most relevant/related tracks. Which George Michael reissue would you put Fantasy 98 on, if not LWP?

Yeah, suppose you’re right. It just seemed like LWPV2 was a mere 2-3 tracks away, with 2 of these (Killer/Papa & Disco), already complete. I would have liked a whole disc dedicated to that material.

Not a fan of all the edits. ‘Fantasy 98’ just rubs me up the wrong way, but suppose it is in keeping with the LWPV2 sound. ‘Fantasy 90’ was just so damn raw & funky (and just so different to the contemporary LWPV2 material). Appreciate ‘If You Were My Woman’ was a b-side, but just feels out of place with no other live material.
Deasafinado’ definitely belongs with ‘Older’, and not a fan (that’s being polite) of the ‘Heal the Pain’ duet. Oh well . . it is what it is.

Pre-ordered as soon as this was announced… I can understand the nitpicking over the Unplugged tracks, but who knows if there will ever be an Older Deluxe… ? I’d rather take all I can get right now than not at all (even if it screws up the chronology).

What a muddled tracklisting. It is as if George Michael forgot when he released what. Like including Fantasy on the Faith Box. Just weird. Unplugged should have been given it’s own release 20 years ago, along with a DVD and should be released, but with Older. More missed opportunities, granted the five live material would have made more sense, along with his cover of Tonight, and the Don’t Let The Sun… ep, nevermind cover 2 cover… oh well. I suppose not giving people what they want is the business model going on here. Too bad, because this could have been a a really great set, with a lot of good material most people have not heard.

Too Funky, Do You Really Want to Know and Happy are the 3 tracks from Red Hot + Dance. Crazyman Dance was the B-side to Too Funky. Fantasy was the B-side to Waiting For That Day. Yes, Heal The Pain with Paul McCartney was recorded in late 2005 and appeared on the 25 compilation.

This reminds me of the deluxe edition of the first Electronic (Sumner/Marr) album. The bonus disc included songs and mixes from all three Electronic albums and totally messed up the chance to give the first album its due. Paul, if only you had been asked to compile the bonus material for that one, it could have been something special.

Anybody could have compiled that second disc with the proper mixes and b sides relevant to that album. It certainly ranks way up there as being one of the most idiotic reissues i have ever came across.

I’m happy with the Unplugged disc being included. If Virgin/Universal weren’t necessarily interested in doing a deluxe of Older, it made sense to include it here. As they’re live versions, they’re not owned by Virgin are they?

Are both versions of Fantasy really being included on this? “Fantasy 90” was also on the Faith deluxe, wasn’t it? Belongs here, not there, but do we really need it twice when it’s already on Ladies and Gentlemen anyway?

Fantasy is a B-side to an LWP track, so of course it belongs here. I have no idea why it was included with Faith etc. As I’ve said before not including it on this reissue would be two mistakes in a row (after its inclusion on Faith).

Fantasy was on tthe Faith reissue too because it was recorded as part of the same sessions as faith. I like this reissue except for the consecutive Freedom 90’s versions on disc 3. Not that good for listenability. Would be better if the edit was at the end.

I will get this for sure. A super strong album and the package is very reasonably priced. I’m not complaining about the Unplugged disc. George doesn’t release a lot of stuff and who knows when the Older album will be reissued. The documentary will then may be added to the Older reissue? I already have the Unplugged album, found it in a sales bin somewhere (pays off to go through those), it’s fantastic. Looking forward to have it properly remastered. The DVD has extra value now that he passed away. Unfortunately I never saw him live so this will be my personal concert. Can’t wait to watch it on my projector on the entire wall!!

Will buy it, but I think they have messed up by no hi-res version of album and also not waiting to include the new documentary. Surely now George has left us this SDE could have been put back and revised with post death essays etc?

i think it’s a missed opportunity to put out the vol2 tracks, half or so are included in this but disco, pieces and ain’t no stopping us now are missing. I think unplugged should be a dvd and include the rehearsals and unbroadcast material. perhaps as a package in itself with the respective cd or cds, with the bbc radio version of unplugged

one other thing about these type of box sets is that personally i usually dislike it when the bonus disc can’t be played and enjoyed fully in order. when i make my own sets i mix things up so you don’t hear 4 versions of one song followed by 3 of another. so I’d stick the edits on the end and swap it around. similarly i tend to group live and studio b sides separately

the other shame is the space left at the end of each disc that could have been filled with more music

The demos debate is a good one – the Underworld ‘Second Toughest…’ deluxe set having an entire disc devoted to ‘Born Slippy NUXX’ is both fascinating to listen to for the evolution of the track/remix, and also a bit of a slog at times…am thinking I might have to give this George Michael reissue a go though, if only for my mum, who was a massive fan and passed away in 2015. I kind of grew up with George Michael for that reason (and the fact my mum believed she’d marry George one day…that dream took a bit of a bruising after he came out!) but for her I’ll be buying this as I have lots of nice memories of her through George’s music.

Regarding Unplugged as CD2 – somehow I think that it might be more interesting for the “general public” that mostly just want the original album and like the thought of a well known concert included as well. I much prefer deluxe editions to have B sides, single versions and demos myself – but in this case it was a great concert and I’m sure I will play that CD quite a lot. I would have liked it though if the vinyl was included in the 4CD set, to make it more similar to the Faith box.

Certainly there ought to be more thought about what is released on Vinyl if the companies want to sustain it’s long term revival. Particularly if there is a readily available, cheap, well pressed original. So if they want to keep digital and analogue material separate they ought to make much more of the material that is reserved for the digital output available on vinyl.

I can think of a dozen or more release from the last few years that has been released as a single album identical to the original that I have many times over that would have benefitted from a 2nd and 3rd vinyl disc of bonus material.

I was listening to “Quiet Life” over Christmas whilst reading the Burning Shed Japan book and it’s a terrific piece of work, the original album plus two slabs of bonus material, remixes and alternate takes. That is how all re-issues should be done. Make the Vinyl sets mirror the structure (if not the total content) of the digital content versions with a standard single disc issue, for those that just want a fresh copy of the original and a Super Deluxe Vinyl edition which is a 3 or 4 disc effort with all the demos / remixes properly re-mastered for Vinyl. They would make a shedload at £40 / £50 a pop.

So instead of mixing CDs, DVDs and Vinyl for those that don’t like that kind of thing you can keep them separate but still have options to get all / most of the material on Vinyl.

@Chris –
Was intrigued by your mention of a vinyl reissue of Quiet Life with bonus material as I was totally unaware of its existence. A quick bit of internet searching managed to snag me a copy (as it is no longer available). I have all the tracks already on CD, of course, as well as the original album on vinyl but it will be nice to have a nice extended vinyl edition.
So, thanks for the unintentional tip.

‘A Foreign Place’ is a great read isn’t it – I was one of the Kickstarter backers, really glad it finally made it to print.

the “unplugged” concert is complete misplaced here.
wasted chance for bringing the “cover to cover” tour tracks finally on cd.
the whole “deluxe” album set is not interesting for me.
the “unplugged” cd should be a “killer / papa was a…” cd with all the promotional remixes !
i hope that the estate / sony will made better versions in the future as this
and the “faith” re-release. i have so many demo’s and they are really good and it would be good to have them in a perfect quality.
p.s. but i guess there will be more and more sets of george michael material
in the next years – hopefully so much as of david bowie.

If disc 3 would have been the second CD on the 2 CD version i would have snapped this up as it is i have no interest in that MTV unplugged album which is no way associated with this album. It’s annoying that they keep doing this forcing people to fork out for a box set just to get one disc.

I personally thank you Paul for disc 3. That’s the stuff I look for in the SDE’s-the radio edits, B sides, remixes etc. I could care less about live tracks, alternatives and demos. I want all material that was officially released.

Oh, I love demos. It shows the way the artist is thinking and a radio edit (9 times out of 10 anyway) is a dull waste of time. Some Radio edits are interesting if a track is significantly re-done, trying to think of one of the top of my head….can’t. But a 4.15 track cut to 3.45 is usually just shorter. I loved DNA by Gabriel, I loved Early Stages and the Ommadawn / Bells Demos. I loved the A-Ha demos on Hunting…. Not every artist makes demos sadly, but if they do I would generally take them over radio edits any day of the week.

I like demos too, although George Michael clearly wasn’t the sort of artist who wanted people to hear his demos, since he never released any demos on anything. He refers to the Faith demo in the booklet of that reissue but wasn’t willing to include it so we could have a listen!

@Chris –
Yes agree entirely on Demos. They tend to show the raw song before it was processed and shaped in the studio. I love hearing the original germ of an idea.
Gabriels DNA is excellent in that respect as it shows the germ and the evolution.

I agree it’s a bit out of place. I assume this came from George and his management. I did a bit of consultancy on this set for Sony in terms of bonus material – disc 3 in the super deluxe is what remains of my contribution!

It’s the way he wanted it. I have not heard mtv unplugged. II hope it’s good. Looked on wiki in relation to faith there was lots of material not excluded on the 25 version of that IM also curious about what will be included on the,inevitable compilation that will come at the end of the year. Hoping for blue armed with love. A favorite of mine.